The transformation has begun. It's day one and something seems to be missing from my car... I can't quite put my finger on what it is...


Maybe a little closer look and I can figure it out...


Oh, I know what it is, it's over here...


hmm, but that's not big enough to go in my car, the missing piece must be somewhere else...

 

OOOHHHHH... the pain of envy!!!

Are there going to be before and after dyno charts?

 

Looks like someone has really lost their head

Oh, hey, quick suggestion, get your valve cover painted BRG while it's off

 

SWEET!!!!! Someone needs some headers now

 

Yep... since you're there. GET THE HEADER.
Ask John, if there is any break for a group buy of his MM V2 header.
I want one.

 

I'll have more pictures tomorrow. Not much happened today besides getting the old head off. I'll have pictures of stuff going on tomorrow.

No before and after dyno charts. But there could be some after, after version 2, and after version 3 depending on how everything unfolds.

I'll have test drives/rides available at the Towson breakfast depending on weather conditions.

In all this work I'm also getting a new part to sit on my bookshelf at work, the stock cam shaft.

 

So, other than the Port/Polish of the head, what else are you having done?

 

Schrick?

Is there a break-in period on the head and are you keeping the stock pistons?

 

i will definately wanna get a ride to feel the difference, but it will have to be later for me, since i will not be at the towson breakfast.

 

Some of the components:
the exhaust header

the head

the cam


The assembly:
the new head uses all stock components, so no need to worry about obscure parts

A shot of the shiny new header, who knows how long it'll stay that way

hmmm.....


with everything back together you really can't tell much has been changed


The ride:
right now it doesn't have the complete custom tune. That's a work in progress. But it does have a partial tune. I'm having some serious issues with wheel spin all throughout the RPM range. If I had an LSD I would also have a serious issue with torque steer. It really is a beastly setup. I am very happy with the results. I'm sure things will get much better as the tune is refined.

Before you even ask... No, I will not tell you the price. If you want to know you can call up Lucky Dog Garage and ask for yourself.

 

Never realized you hadn't experienced LSD..;-p

Agree with your IM about the damper, as well. I'm not entirely fond of something that finds a new direction for all the vibration that motor puts out.

Later,
Matthew

 

Is that a test pipe I see? If so, how did you get around the SES light?

 

I don't, it's there just as it's name implies, for testing. The high-flow cat is going to be added after the testing is completed.

 

Since this car has our complete upgrade with all our parts we're going to be breaking in our new dyno with it. (HaHaHa) We'll use this time to refine our calibrations now that we have a top notch measuring device like the Dynapack. "Before" numbers aren't that important because all the stock Ss dyno at about 135whp no matter what dyno you use. I installed the test pipe so as to have an easy wideband hookup point. Witout a cat I can put the sensor in the bung where the post cat sensor would be. The tunes that I've done for the stock cars are good to go and this car had one of those prior to the mods. Since we changed the ve of the engine, these calibrations are a bit different and must be correct in order to get the most bang for the buck.

 

great job.. lookig forward to see the dyno result
btw., how much do you guys (ldg) charge for dyno runs/??

 

i'm not sure if i was the first, but I did get to meet up with Matt today and check out the ride. I will have to say, i am very impressed with the power output and the delivery of the power to the wheels. Power came out smooth and linear. No real jumps or anything like that. Wheels were breakin loose everywhere. haha. It had me grinning ear to ear as went through the gears.

Power was continuously there all the way up the power band. VERY impressive, and this is coming from a JCW guy.

I also liked the fact that the rev limiter was either bumped up or not there as i know i had hit in the realm of 7200 rpm at one point.

The only worry i had was gettin back in my car, but I got on the gas and I still was grinning ear to ear. So no worries there. whew!

I would definately recommend this to anyone who is considering the jcw package or this level of mods to their MINI. I know there are a few people out there tryin to piece together these types of packages.

HAPPY MOTORING! my $.02!

 

Sounds great Matt - congrats! I don't recall if you ever named your MINI (or cared to), but just in case it doesn't have a name, may I suggest "Brutus".

 

True... But Matt's car wasn't stock before the mods...

I'd love to see before and after number's as well, to see what he had over stock, and then what a difference the head, cam, and tune makes with his exsisting mods.

 

i believe he only had a 15% pulley as far as engine mods prior to this install.

 

There are several reasons why the outcome of this mod is so good. The first is that it was designed as a complete package with components that work together. The second is that we can recalibrate the ecu to maximize these components. This car was stock except for a 15% pulley and the intercooler. The intercooler is not a power adder but rather prevents power from being removed by the effects of high IATs. There is a rev limiter but it has been raised to a a more realistic point.
After hearing back from several customers that have had this mod since last year, they all report higher fuel mileage than stock. The reason is the engine is a more efficient air pump now than it was before the mods.

 

Keen.

I'm not whining... Just saying it's nice to have before and after numbers for comparison purposes... You know, with other companies throwing high numbers at us and all.

 

Ahh winter modding and tuning...

 

An after number of some sort will probably be available next week. We'll see though.

 

thats the name of MY MINI!!!

 

Oops - funny though, I don't remember you telling me that before... if you did, I forget (sorry! I'm a man, with terrible memory) .